07 March 2024 , 21:24
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Rory McIlroy has slammed the door for good on the prospect of him quitting the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf.
It comes after the Northern Irishman appeared to hint at the prospect of joining the Saudi Arabia-bankrolled breakaway tour last month. The four-time major champion has been one of LIV's staunchest opponents since it launched in 2022, poaching several top stars from the PGA Tour, but McIlroy has softened his rhetoric towards the Greg Norman-fronted league of late.
However, McIlroy insisted on Thursday he has no plans to turn his back on the PGA Tour, emphasising the importance he places on the history and prestige accumulated by the tour since it formed more than a century ago.
"It's not for me, I am too much of a traditionalist," McIlroy told ESPN. "I love winning golf tournaments and looking at the trophy and seeing Sam Sneyd won this trophy, or Ben Hogan, or Gene Sarazen, or Jack Nicklaus, or Gary Player, or Tiger Woods, or Nick Faldo, or whoever it is. The people that came before me. That to me is a big deal in our game."
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The confirmation of McIlroy's stance comes after his press conference at the Cognizant Classic last week, when he was asked about comments from his former agent, Chubby Chandler, who hinted his former client could join LIV.
McIlroy told reporters at PGA National: "You never know, he might know a few things." When probed about Chandler's assertion to Bunkered that there was a "strong possibility" McIlroy would join LIV, before backtracking and saying there was a "10 per cent" chance, McIlroy responded: "Maybe somewhere in the middle. Who knows."
McIlroy has pledged his future to the PGA Tour (Getty Images for The Match)But McIlroy's latest interview has put to bed the notion that he could make a sensational switch to LIV, although he remains eager for the best players in the world to play together more often. The top stars from the PGA Tour and LIV have only been on the course at the same time in the majors and at a smattering of DP World Tour events, and McIlroy wants that to change.
He continued: "If we were to all put our heads together and be like 'What can we all do to come back together and move forward and be a little more cohesive', then I would sort of be for that'."
It follows McIlroy admitting he believes the players who reneged on the PGA Tour to join LIV should be able to return without penalty, a comment which angered several of his PGA Tour counterparts.
He has also mooted the idea of an additional series of tournaments being added to the calendar inspired by football's Champions League, with top performers from each tour qualifying for the events.